Portsmouth will face Football League exit if takeover bid fails

Officials have confirmed Portsmouth will lose their Football League membership if the Pompey Supporters Trust's bid to buy the club fails before the end of the season.

On Thursday, Portsmouth's administrators, PKF, said they had received a new offer from former Football League chairman Keith Harris to buy the troubled club , which would rival the PST's bid.

And despite the football financier wanting the fans' group to be involved in the proposed takeover, the Football League released a statement stating it will not consider any new bids for the struggling south coast outfit.

The statement read:

"Given that the Football League's Insolvency Policy prohibits a club from beginning two consecutive seasons in administration, the board took the view that any change of preferred bidder at such a late stage would only create further uncertainty and was not in the wider interests of the League and its member clubs.

"Therefore, the League has informed the administrator that it will not currently consider transferring the club's share in The Football League to a new bidder.

"This means that in the event that the PST bid does not succeed and Portsmouth do not exit administration before the end of the current playing season, the club will lose its membership of The Football League."

If PST's bid does not succeed and Portsmouth do not exit administration before the end of the current playing season, the club will lose its membership of The Football League